The mystery of human morality
He who saves a single life saves the world entire. Maybe this Talmudic verse has to be kept in mind while reading about the contradictions in Oskar Schindler’s morality in the book Schindler’s List, written by Thomas Keneally. The book also treats other people’s approach to humanity and ethical questions.
The story is set during World War II. The Jews in Cracow begin to move into the ghetto in 1939, by which time a man called Oskar Schindler moves to the town in order to become a businessman, a tycoon. He cares above all about the money he are going to make, but woman, liquor and good food are temptations he consider too big to be without. In spite of his bizarre view of how to behave as a gentleman, he is polite and everyone is fond of him. This relaxed lifestyle is clearly shown in the text, as Keneally often point out his hedonistic temperament:
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Furthermore, when Schindler’s office manager and a dozen of his other workers had been seen marched out from the ghetto direct to the depot, Schindler went there looking for them. He moved along a line of more than twenty cattle cars, calling the administrator’s name. The author points out that it was fortunate for him that Schindler did not pause, considering his equal value to all the other prisoners loaded aboard, but continues by state Schindler as not so profound. Anyhow, Schindler got all of his employees out at last.
In this way he shows a beautiful side of his morality, as he could, corresponding to SS, just take another dozen Jews to his factory and in that way treat them not as people, but as equal copies. Conversely, he did only save his workers from the cattle cars and was blind to the thousands of other people taking their last trip before execution. At least his workers could trust